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  3. Blue Rational/Irrational
Blue Rational/Irrational, Al Loving, 1969
Al Loving, portraitAl LovingAmerican, 1935–2005

Blue Rational/Irrational

1969 · Painting

May one see it?

Yes, receiving visitors

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Room224A Contemporary Corridor

On public display.

Checked
9 days ago
In this state since
Aug 19, 2026
Source
The museum
On the mapMuseum page

About the painting

Across both canvases of this large-scale diptych, Loving evokes a three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface through strategic layerings of cubic forms and carefully calibrated color juxtapositions. Around the time Loving made this work he wrote, “I am tired of objects on walls. The wall must be pierced, brought forward, pushed back.” Blue Rational/Irrational is a bold manifestation of this sentiment.

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Particulars

1969 · aged 34
19352005
Accession number
2019.58

More by Al Loving

All works

In the same room · 224A Contemporary Corridor, The Cleveland Museum of Art

Museum page

In the catalog

PaintingsAcrylicAmerican paintingPost-war art20th centuryAmerica

Sources

  • The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Image: The Cleveland Museum of Art — © The Estate of Al Loving and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York
Blue Rational/Irrational (left panel), Al Loving, 1969

Blue Rational/Irrational (left panel)

1969 · The Cleveland Museum of Art

Blue Rational/Irrational (right panel), Al Loving, 1969

Blue Rational/Irrational (right panel)

1969 · The Cleveland Museum of Art

Brownie, Sunny, Dave, and Al, Al Loving, 1972 (later revised)

Brownie, Sunny, Dave, and Al

1972 (later revised) · Not on view · National Gallery of Art

Rational Irrationalism, Alvin Loving, 1969

Rational Irrationalism

1969 · Not on view · Whitney Museum of American Art

Septehedron 34, Alvin Loving, 1970

Septehedron 34

1970 · Not on view · Whitney Museum of American Art

Untitled, Al Loving, c. 1975

Untitled

c. 1975 · Not on view · The Museum of Modern Art

Heights III, Rose B. Simpson, 2022

Rose B. Simpson

Heights III, 2022

Black Diagonal Relief, Ellsworth Kelly, 2006

Ellsworth Kelly

Black Diagonal Relief, 2006

Curved Plane/Figure VII (Study), Robert Mangold, 1995

Robert Mangold

Curved Plane/Figure VII (Study), 1995

Curved Plane/Figure VII (Study), Robert Mangold, 1995

Robert Mangold

Curved Plane/Figure VII (Study), 1995

Curved Plane/Figure VII (Study), Robert Mangold, 1995

Robert Mangold

Curved Plane/Figure VII (Study), 1995

Jupiter IV, Al Held, 1974

Al Held

Jupiter IV, 1974

Mardi Soir, Carmen Herrera, 1973

Carmen Herrera

Mardi Soir, 1973

Blue Rational/Irrational (left panel), Al Loving, 1969

Al Loving

Blue Rational/Irrational (left panel), 1969